Murray River and Area Watershed

A watershed is an area of land that Physical Description

drains into a particular river, lake or
Murray River watershed drains into
other body of water. In the Southeast
Murray Harbour which flows into the
Environmental Association (SEA) region
Northumberland Strait then to the Gulf of
there are six main watershed areas,
St. Lawrence. The watershed covers an
made up of 26 sub-watersheds, covering
area of 70km2, with headwaters located in
731.6km2. One of the main watershed Mount Vernon, Hopefield and
areas is the Murray River watershed . It Glenwilliam. The total length of streams in
Map of Prince Edward Island with the Murray
is made up of five sub-watersheds. this watershed is 52km which includes
River and Area watershed highlighted in blue.
MacLure’s Pond, the largest pond in PEI.
Location
Greek River watershed covers an area of
The Murray River and Area watershed is 36.2km2 including Cambridge and Peters
located in southern Kings County and Road . There are 24.8km of streams
includes all areas that drain into the flowing into Murray Harbour from this
Murray River and Murray Harbour. This watershed.
includes:
Fox River watershed is 11.1km2 in area,
Abney Mount Vernon
with 7.4km2 of forested land . It is made up
Alliston Murray Harbour
of 9.8km of streams that drain into
Caledonia Murray Harbour N.
Simple diagram explaining how a watershed works. Cambridge Murray River Murray Harbour before flowing out into
Glenwilliam Peters Road the Northumberland Strait.
Murray River and Area
High Bank White Sands
Sub-watersheds: Hopefield
Murray River Iris
Greek River
Fox River
South River
Nicolle Point
Total length of streams: 108.4km
Total area: 13,855.8ha (138.6km2)
Basin Name: Murray Harbour
Murray River and Area watershed map showing
Largest Land Use: Forest (64.7%) the five watersheds, roads and streams. The
total area is 138.6km2 with 108.4km of streams.

SEA Change! SEA Solutions! SEA the Future!

South River watershed covers 20.2km2
including the Community of Murray
Harbour. It has 22.1km of streams
draining into Murray Harbour, before
flowing out into the Northumberland
Strait.
Nicolle Point watershed is the smallest
in the SEA region. It is 1.2km2 in area. It
has 10m of stream draining into Nicolle
Cove, then the waters move out into
Murray Harbour.
Watershed and Area Land Use
Based on land use data from 2010,
forested areas dominate the land in the
Murray River and Area watershed at
64.7%. Agricultural land accounts for
18.2%. Developed land, which includes
commercial, industrial, institutional,
recreational, residential, transportation
and urban, covers 7.5%. Wetlands cover
6.1% and the remaining 3.5% of land has
no evident use.
Legend
Agriculture
Forest
Developed
Wetland
MacLure’s Pond
MacLure’s Pond, located in Murray
River, is the largest freshwater body in
Prince Edward Island. It is highlighted
by the Murray River Pines Trail, which
offers a short hike through red and
white pines trees.
Belted Kingfishers can be spotted fishing for food
at MacLure’s Pond.
This natural area covers four hectares
of Provincial crown land. The pine
stand is a great example of old growth
pine forest, with some trees dating
back to 1870 or earlier. MacLure’s
Pond is a perfect habitat for a variety of
organisms, making it a great
wildlife viewing
area.
Conservation Issues
Riparian assessments of the Murray
River and Area watershed have not
been completed in recent years. The
2001 watershed management plan for
Murray River highlighted some of the
issues in the streams; however, due to
funding restraints, SEA was unable to
complete the necessary restoration
work. With little stream restoration
completed in the Murray River and Area
watershed, these issues still remain:
 Natural blockages
 Beaver activity
 Thick alder growth
 Sedimentation
Water quality monitoring site, located in Iris, that is
part of the Murray River stream system.
These issues may result in:

 Fish passage impediment

 Loss of habitat

 Loss of biodiversity

Get Involved!
Land use map of the Murray River and Area watershed. SEA can now carry out restoration work
Land Use Murray Greek Fox River South Nicolle Total % on streams in the region. An updated
River River (Hectares) River Point Area management plan for the Murray
(Hectares) (Hectares) (Hectares) (Hectares) (Hectares)
River and Area watershed needs to be
Agriculture 1363.6 613.6 157.6 387.0 4.1 2525.9 18.2% developed to address issues in the
Developed 203.5 53.7 21.5 67.0 48.6 427.9 7.5% area. SEA requires public support and
Forest 4556.4 2517.9 737.1 1065.8 89.9 8967.0 64.7% input for this to be successful. We
Wetland 344.4 166.4 78.8 238.5 16.9 845.0 6.1% urge you to get involved. Please
contact us if you are interested in
Non-evident 249.5 31.8 57.2 91.9 38.2 477.9 3.5%
improving the watershed you live in.
Breakdown of the land use for the six sub-watersheds in the Murray River

Southeast Environmental Association Phone: 902-838-3351

41 Wood Islands Hill Email: sea@pei.aibn.com
Montague, PE
Follow SEA: Website: www.seapei.org

Contact SEA to find out what watershed you live in!